Machine for forming sheet-metal lath



Nov. 17, 1925.

J. R. M MAHON MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET METAL LATH 7 Sheet sI-Sh'et 2 Filed March 10. 1923 NTU AITCIH 1,561,556 .J. R. M MAHON MACHINE FOR FOIRMING SHEET METAL LATH Filed March 10, 1 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 7/ /w// M Q w Q 'Q Nov. 17,1925.

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Nov. 17 1925.

J. R. M' MAHON MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET METAL LATH 7 Sheets Shet 4 Filed March 10. 1923 yaw 1,561,556 J. R. M MAHON MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET METAL LATE Filed March 10. 19 7 Sheets-Shut N QN. m w 1 ..&w W\ N\ \N z. A \m v. MA HH Nov. 17, 1925.

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J. R. MCMAHQN Filed March 10, 192;

7 Sheets-Shet 7 INVENTG R- MQ 72; By" W ATTD ENE Y.

MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET METAL LATE few 5 Q 7 :il-.iiiliiiiiiiiial 747/ v w fiim Y h m HH HHHUmHMmHHH Q\\ Q\ Nov. 17, 1925.

' rality of parallel space :To all whom it maycmcem Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES, PATENT Y OFF-ICE...

JOSEPH R. HOMAHON, OF GLENDALE, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-FOURTH TO HIMSELF, ONE-FOURTH T0 J. T. MQMAHON, ONE-FOURTH TO B. A. HGMAHON, AND ONE-FOURTH 'TQC. I. MCMAHON, ALL OF GLENDALE, WEST VIRGINIA.

MACHINE FOR FORMING SHEET-METAL LATE.

Be it known that I, JOSEPH, R. MGMAHON, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Glendale, county of Marshall, and State of West. Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Maohines for Forming Sheet- Metal Laths, of which the following is a specification.

'Thisinvention relates broadly to sheet bending mechanisms, and more specifically to a machine for forming sheet-metal lath. The primary .object of the invention is to provide a machine for bending metal sheets to form lath of .that ty. e in which a pluta-il form in cross section are provided for the-reception of plaster tongues whereby. the

plaster is interlocked therewith, orkeyed thereto g A further object of the invention is to'provide a machineof the character mentioned which is wholly automatic in its operation, being-adapted to advance as'heet fed thereto in intermittent steps of a definite length and to form therein the various relatively spaced channels during the intervals in which the sheet remains at rest.

With these and other objects .in view, the invention resides in the features of construction, arrangement of parts and combinations of elements which will hereinafter be fully described, referen'ce being herein had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figur'e l is an end elevation of the invention;

2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3- is'an enlarged sectional elevation of the invention, parts being shown broken away;

Fig, 4 is an enlarged detail view, partially in section and partially in side "elevation, il-

lustrating the sheet advancing mechanism; Fig. 5 is a detail view of the mechanism by whichthe formed end of the sheet is ad vanced; I r I Fig. 6 Is a view in cross section illustratlng a modified form of thrust'pins;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of'the turret;

Figs. 8 and 9 are end and side elevations, respectively; ofone of the lower,di es;

Figs. 10 and 11 are similar views of a -die carrying slide; i

Application and ilareh m, 1923. Serial Jim 824,114.

channels of dove- Fig. 12 is a detail sectional elevation showing the upper and lower dies disposed in their cooperative sheet-bending relation;

Fig. 13 is a section on line 13-13, Fig. 12, with the ram removed;

Fig. 14'is. a cross section of a-modified form of upper die support and ram;

Fig. 15 1s a fragmentary elevation of the same; 7 I

Fig. 16 is a cross section of a modified form of lower die support;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary elevation of the same; a

Fig. 18 is a perspective view of a partially formed sheet; and

Fig. 19 is a detail view in top lan of an end portion of the ram andthe s ideway in which it operates.

Referring to said drawings, -1 indicates the opposite sides of a supporting frame,

or housings, which have stationarily mounted on the top thereof the opposite ends of a transversely disposed turret 2 of tranforward of said turret and on a somewhat lower plane is a table 4 which hasits rear edge spaced from the adjacent turret wall. Said tables 3 and 4, whichform beds over which metal sheets to be acted upon .are advanced over the turret, are mounted upon stationary supports 5 and 6 which rest upon the. housings l and which embody transverse walls 5 and 6 located parallel to and at a suitably" spaced distance from the adjacent walls of the turret to. form intermediate guideways 7', the purpose of which will herenafter be made apparent.

vA pair of transversely disposed upper die members 8 are mounted for reciprocation with respect to the flat topfac'e of the turret 2 and are adapted in their lowered. position to firml seat upon-that ortion of a metal sheet w ich overlies sai top face. Each of said die members has formed in its underface a *rabbet 9 presenting an outwardly [facing acute angle into which the underlying metal of the sheet acted upon is forced by cooperating lower dies 10, aswill here'- inafter be described.

Said upper dies 8 are rigidly carried on the under sides of-the inner or confronting edge portions of a pair of heavy transverse bars or plates 11 which carry upon the opposite' ends of their outer edge portions trunnions 12 that are, journaled in upright frame members or supports 13 carried by the housings 1. Integral arms 14 carried by the said outer edge portions of said plates 11 have pivot'ally-attached thereto the inner endsof substantially horizontal levers 15.

and pivoted to said lugs are the upper ends of rods or links 20, adjustable as to-length, which are pivoted at their lower ends upon the upper ends of downwardly and inwardly inclined levers 21. Each ofsaid levers 21 is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends upon the adjacent housings .1' and carries upon its lower end a roller 22 which is disposed in seated relation to a cam 23, being yieldingly held in such relation by a retractile coil spring 24 attached at its upper end to the outer end portion of the lever 21 and at its lower end to a fixed member, as a bolt or stud 25, carried by the adjacenthous in 1.

Thecams 23, located side by side, are carried. by a shaft 26 journaled in the lower part of the housings 1, and each thereof is adapted in each, revolution to swing the therewith associated lever 21 against the tension of its spring 24 for elevating the attached link 20 and, consequently, the slide 18 supported by the latter, for thrusting-the dies 10 upward into cooperative sheet-bends ing relation to the lowered upper dies 8.

Each of the inclined walls 5- and 6 of the.

supports 5 and 6 carries upon the upper portion of the side-f acing the adjacent guide-' way a plate 27 which is inclined at a greater angle to the vertical than the wall to which 'it is attached, and disposed in underlying seated relation to said plate when the adjacent slide 18 occupies its normal lowered position is a shoulder 28 ,fornied on said slide, said shoulder having an inclination corresponding to that of said plate. .Said plate constitutes a deflector which cooperates with said shoulder for thrusting rheslide inward toward the-adjacent wall of the turret as. saidslide is elevated. This inward deflection-of the slides occurs gradually during the elevation of thelatter into cooperative relation to the upper dies, whereby the bend ing of the interposed metal sheet about the upper dies is effected without theshearing action which would obviously attend elevating movement of the lower dies in a straight line, or directly toward the beveled edges of said upper dies.

When in their lowered positions, th slides '18 are held in an outwardly thrust position with respect to the walls or the turret by pins 29 which bear thereagainst, said pins being movable through and haringtheir ends projected outward through said walls into-seated bearing relation to said slides. The inner ends of said pins rest against a vertically reciprocable block30 of wedge shape which is supported upon thoupper ends of 'pitmen 31. Each pitman has a short slot in its lowerend throughwhich the driveshatt 26 is directed. A cam 3? fixed on said shaft adjacent to each-pitman is disposed in underlying relation to a roller 34 carried by the pitman whereby the latter is maintained in elevated position in which the pins 29 are pressed outward, except during the part 01" each revolution of the cam in which the lower slides 18 occupy their upwardly thrust positions. It will of-course be understood that the cam 33 is so formed and positioned that the block 30 will be raised and lowered in properly timed relation to' the movements of the slides.

As is apparent, the dies 8 and 10 are designed to formnn metal sheets 35 transverse channels 36 ofdovet ail form at regularly spaced intervals, as shown in Figs. 12 and 18, for forming metal" lath of a character adapted for attaching to the studding ot' a wall and for having a coatingof plaster applied thereto,- said channels being designed to receive therein plaster in the form of riblike looking lugs whereby the coating is retainedin place.

The upper dies 8 are normally held in the elevated position shown in Fig. 3 and are actuated to move to lowered seating position with respect to a sheet overlying the top face or the turret 2 by mechanism which includes a transverse ram 37. Said ram,-

which is disposed for vertically reciprocatmg movement with the respect to the inner edge portions ofithe die-carrying'plates 11,

is designed to be actuated to forcibly depress said plates at proper times td/loweredpositions in. which they seat uponi'an interposed sheet for cooperating wit the lower dies 10. Said ram has its op osi ends mounted on slide blocks 32 who are movable in vertical slideways 39 provided therefor in the supports 13,- and said slide blocks have trunnions mounted i'n-the upper ends of upright 'pitnien'40. Each pitman. 40 has a short slot 41in lower endthrough which the drive shaft 26 is directed and carries thereon suitably located upper and lower rollers 42' and 43 adaged to be alternately engaged by a cam 44 ed'on said shaft whereb said pitman is' raised and lowered for e ecting elevation and depression of the ram 37.. As

is obvious, when said ram is lowered, it seats upon and forces the plates 11 downward for seating the dies 8 upon the sheet whic overlies the to .face of the'turret, and when said .ram is elevated, it strikes against and raises the overlying bars 17,

'thus," through the intermediate mechanism hereinbefore described, swinging said plates to the positions in which said dies are'elevated.

The metal sheets are advanced over. the table 3 to the position in which they are acted upon by the dies, as aforesaid, by means of a set of rolls 45 and 46 which are intermittently actuated, and the 'shaped end of the sheet is advanced over the table 4 away from said position by intermittently actuated dogs 47, said rolls and dogs being simultaneously actuated. means for said rolls and said dogs comprises a horizontally disposed bar 48 which is mounted intermediate its. ends upon an'end' portion of the drive shaft 26, having therein a slotor elongated opening 49 through which said shaft extends. ried by the bar 48 forward and rearward of said opening 49 are'adapted to be alternately engaged by a cam 52 carried by said shaft, whereby said bar is shifted forward and. rearward in each revolution of said' shaft. Pivotally attached to the rear end of said bar 48 is the lower endof an upright Y lever 53 which is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends upon an outstanding arm or post 54 carried-by the adjacent housing.

' The upper end of said lever carries a pivoted pawl 55 which has its free end en aged with a ratchet wheel 56 carried by tfie neck of the lower roll 46. Thus, as is manifest, rear.- ward shifting movement of said bar 48, cffected as described, actuates the pawl 55 through the lever 53 to impart through the ratchet wheel 56 a definite movement whereby is effected the forward rotation of said lower roll throughout a definite part of a revolution for advancing a definite distance a metal sheet received between said roll and the overlying frictionally driven roll 45.

The forward end of the bar 48 likewise has pivoted thereto the lower end of an'up-' right lever 57 which has its upper end fixed I to an end .of a transverse rock-shaft '58.

Said rock-shaft is mounted in the housings and carries thereon at points located slight outside the path of movement of'the s eats a pair of upright arms 59, each of which has pivoted to its upper ends. dog 47 ada ted to overlie the adj acent edge portion of t e sheet. Rearward shifting of the bar The actuating Rollers 50 and 51car- 48 thus imparts to said dogs 47, through the I intermediate lever 57, rock-shaft 58 and arms 59, a definite forwardi travel, and, sihce said do s seat behind thetransverse upright ribs ormed in the sheet, they act to thrust forward therewith the shaped end of the sheet producing forward travel of said end simultaneously with the advance of feoted by the feed rolls. Rollers 61 carried by said dogs 47 rearward of their free ends provide for elevatin the dogs as they are retracted over the ri s of the sheet tonew positions. I

It will pf course be understood that the various mechanisms hereinbefore described are arranged to operate at properly timed formin their various functions.

intervals and in proper sequence for per-. i

.In Fig. 6 is illustrated a modified form of pin and pin mounting whereby the slides which carry the lower dies are normally held in outwardly thrust positions, dispensing with the block 30 and its actuatingmeans. In said modified form the pins 29 have their inner ends resting against spiral compression springs 62 which are interposed between said ends and bolt 63 adjustably mounted in brackets 64 carried on the inner faces of the turret walls. In the modification illustrated in Figs. 14 and 15, the upper dies '8 are carried by companion V bars 11'. Said bars. are connected by a plurality of horizontally disposed tie rods 65 upon which they are slidable toward and away from each other, said rods carrying compression springs 66 which norinally he (1 said-bars in abutting relation. Companion bevels 267 are provided in the inner upper faces of the bars whereby are constituted longitudinally extending channels of V-shape adapted for the reception of-the correspondingly shaped under side of the modified form 'of ram 37, said ram being designed to depress the die-carrying bars 11 to-seated position with respect to'an underlying metal sheetand, at the same time, to wedgesaidbars apart for. positioning the dies 8 in their proper operative relation. Upon elevation of the ram, the bars 11" and, consequently, the'dies 8,

are contracted by the springs 66 from their 1 bars carry on their upper faces lower (lie members 10 which are moved toward each other for cooperating with the upper dies when said bars are forced downward against the tensions of said springs 71, such lowering of said bars being effected by pressure applied thereto through the depression of the upper dies following seating of the lat ter thereon. As is evident, the structures disclosed in Figs. 14 and 16 are especially well adapted for use, in conjunction wit each other, in which case the depression ofthe two sets of dies into cooperating sheltshaping relation is effected Wholly by. the lowering force applied through the. rain 37*, such force further inducin" relative movement of the upper d es-to t eir 5 rated operating position and inducing move- .ment of the lower dies'to their relatively inwardly drawn positions, and said; movements being simultaneously effected in such manner that the interposed port on of a sheet is gradually. bent into shape without any tendency to produce shearing of the sheet.

.Various modifications in the forms and arrangement of some .of the parts, other than those herein'specifically referred to may obviousljbetgsorted to without .de

parting from the sp rit or scope of the. ap-

pended claims. s,

What isclaiinedgis+ I I 1. .A ma'chine'for forming sheet-metal lath having dovetail channels therein, comprising upper and lower sets of dies, the upper dies being reciprocable into and out of seated relation to a sheet interposed between said sets and having rabbets presenting out wardly facing acute angles, and the lower ,dies being movable in upwardly and wardly inclined directionsinto cooperative relation to said upper dies forpressing the metal of the sheet into said angles, means for automatically actuating said dies at definitely spaced intervals, and means for intermittently advancingthe sheet.

2. A machine for" forming sheet-metal lath'having dovetail channels therein, comv I it u nels mmetal sheets,- comprislng a turret of wardly facing acute angled channels, and

the lower dies having portions adapted to substantially interfit wit said channels, and meansfor actuating said lower dies'in relatively inclined directions into and out of cooperative metal-shaping relation to said upper dies for ressing the. metal of the sheet into said 0 annels. t I

3. A machine for forming sheet-metal lath having dovetail channels therein, comprising a stationary element, means for in-' said element, said dies having therein longitudinal outwardly facing acuteangled channels, and companion dies automatically .shiftable in upwardly and inwardly inclined directions for pressin the metal of the sheet; into the channels 0 the first mentioned dies.

4:. A machine for forming sheet-meta lath having dovetail channels therein, vcomprising a stationary element, means for intermittently advancing a metal sheet over said element, relatively shiftable companion dies reciprocable into and out of overlying seated relation to a sheet which overlies said element, said dies having therein longitudinal outwardly facing acute angled channels,

members slidable' with respect to said-star tionary element,jand operable through the latter in relatively'inclined directions, a pair of lower dies carried by said members, and means for actuating said members for presenting saidlower dies into cooperative relation to. the depressed upper dies for pressingrthe metal of the interposed sheet into conforming relation, to the channels of said upper dies. 1

5. A machine for forming sheet-metal prising a stationary element, means for intermittently' advancing a metal sheet Over said element, relatively shiftable companion dies reciprocable into and outof overlying seated. relation to a sheet which overlies said element, said dies having therein longitudinal outwardly facing acute angled channels, a pair of slides operab-leupon said statruncated coneioriii in cross section, a pair of upper dies reciprocable into seated roletion tolthe portion of a sheet which overlies the top face of-s'aidtu'rret, a pair of slides arranged for reciprocation over the inclined Walls of said turret, lower dies carried by said slides shiftable with'movements of the latter into cooperative sheet-bending relationto the seated upper dies, means for actuating said upper dies at spaced intervals,

means for actuating said lower dies followmg seating of the upper dies, and means for advancing-the sheet when ..-both sets of dies occupy retragtedpositions.

7. A machine for forming dovetail channels in metal sheets, comprising a turret of lath having dovetail channels therein, com-' said turret, relatively inclined elevated position above the top of said tur ret, means for depressing said dies into seated relation to a metal sheet restin upon said turret, relatively inclined guideways formed on opposite sides of said ,turret, slides reciprocable in said guideways, lower dies carried by said slides adapted to be moved in upward shifting movements of the latter into cooperative sheet-shaping relation to the seated upper dies, and means for actuating said slides.

' i 8. A machine for forming dovetail channels in metal sheets, comprising a turret of truncated cone form in cross sectlon, a pair of upper dies normally supported in an ele-' vated position above the top of said turret, means for depressin said dies into seated relation to a metal s eet resting upon said turret, relatively inclined guideways formed on opposite sides of said turret,- a pair of slides shifta'ole in said guideways, lower dies carried by said slides, said lower dies being adapted to press the metal of an interposed sheet into conforming relation to said upper dies, means deflecting said lower dies inwardly in the final part of their shaping movement, and means for actuating said slides in timed relation to movements of the. upper dies.

9. A machine for formin dovetail channels in metal sheets, comprising a turret of truncated cone form in cross section, a pair of upper dies normally supported in an elevated position above the top of said turret, means for depressin said dies into seated relation to a metal s eet 'resting upon ideways formed on opposite sides of sai turret, a air of slides shiftable in said guideways,

, ower dies carried by said slides, said, lower dies being adapted to press the metal of an interposed sheet into conforming relation to said upper dies, means deflecting said lower dies inwardly in the final part of their shapin movement, means for actuating 'said sli es in timed relation to movements of the upper dies, and means for advancing the sheet following retraction of both pairs of dies.

10. A machine for forming doyetail channels in metal sheets, comprising means for intermittentlyadvancing a sheet, a pair of dies shiftable in relatively inclined directions below the path of travel of the sheets, a pair of upper dies normally supported elevated above said path of trave, and means for depressing said u'per dies into seated relation to the underlying sheet, said up or dies having channelsformed therein an said lower dies being movable into 00- o erative relation to the seated upper dies w ereby the interposed sheet is pressed into the channels of the upper dies. c

11. A machinefor forming dovetail channels in metal sheets, comprising means for intermittently advancing a sheet, a pair of dies shiftable in relatively inclined directions below the path of travel of the'sheets, a pair of upper dies normally supported elevated above said path of travel, means for ture. v

JOSEPH R. MOMAHON. 

